When I am an Old Woman

Warning

(When I Am An Old Woman)

Poem by Jenny Joseph

When I am an old woman I shall wear purple

With a red hat which doesn't go and doesn't suit me.

And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves

And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter.

I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired

And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells

And run my stick along the public railings

And make up for the sobriety of my youth.

I shall go out in my slippers in the rain

And pick the flowers in other people's gardens

And learn to spit.

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat

And eat three pounds of sausage at a go

Or only bread and pickles for a week

And hoard pens and pencils and things in boxes.

But now we must have clothes that keep us dry

And pay our rent and not swear in the street

And set a good example for the children.

We will have friends for dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practice a little now

So people who know me are not surprised

When suddenly I am old and start to wear purple.

The Red Hat Society